American Home Shield Reviews

And so, I called AHS and told them the situation. I said, "I pay $50 every month and I make only one call a year and this is the service we get?" Whoever answered the phone at AHS was extra nice. She made sure that my issue was taken care of in a fast manner and did an outstanding job. And so, the second contractor came in, got everything done and put everything on a piece of paper. The repair was good and now my sink is working the way it's supposed to work. While the contractor they send is not always good, American Home Shield's service is good overall.

The guy was very nice, though. Whatever was needed to be done, he did it and it was within the $75 so, it worked out. Other than not being able to tell me if something was covered or not, it’s been good. Also, with the sump pump, the tech showed my husband what he was doing and explained it to him. It was the same with the other two plumbing problems where my husband was right there and he explained the whole bit. After the repair, everything has been good.

They said they’re gonna send me another service tech. I asked them, “For what? Your first one that you sent was your service tech that condemned the unit. Are you trying to suggest that he didn’t know what he was doing and you’re looking for a second opinion?” And they said, “Well, no. Just wanna make sure that it’s correct.” I told them to send me whoever they want. Then they told me who they were sending and we’re against it because we checked and they had a very bad reputation for taking advantage of people which was off of social media. But I still allowed it.

They came over and said that two of the units were no good and that one was questionable. At that point, it’s about 90 degrees out and I told them to put in their notes so that we could at least get two units operational and they can come and replace them or whatever it is that they do. We called again a week later and nothing happened. We got bounced back and forth and they said that the second servicer didn’t say this. I told them my kids were dying upstairs of heat. I already had to go out and purchase two window air-conditioners for their bedrooms. My house was a hundred degrees and I told them to send back the original service guy because he knew what he was doing. I’ll accept whatever he has to say.

This was over a month's time already and they sent back the original guy. He said it was exactly what he told me on his first diagnosis. All three of my units are dead and none of them are working. He put up the gauges to all three of them, had no Freon, and whatever was wrong was wrong. He said he’d call it in that night. We were even on a two-way conversation while he was calling it in. We finally got someone that was very kind and courteous but that person disappeared. She was the first person that understood us but nothing transpired over it. So it forced us to cancel our contractual agreement with AHS. I called my credit card and asked for them to reimburse me whatever the three or four months I had with them. After that, I immediately hired someone and spent around $30,000 to replace all my units. I have invoices and receipts for all of that but it is what it is.

Unfortunately, I needed three units and AHS didn’t wanna make good on any of it. They didn’t repair nor replace them, and they didn’t give me my cash value, which they promised. Even on the first service call that we had for which I paid $125. They told me when they sent the second service call that it’s free and that they would reimburse me my original $125. I never received a penny from them and I’ll laugh if they dispute that I went back three or four months with my credit card company to dispute my monthly payments of $67.

In my eyes, they just saved themselves $30,000. I went on and we looked online to see how many complaints were lodged against them and I was amazed. I always tell my wife to always check thoroughly before she hires people like this. But they’re scam artists. They tried to wear us out for two or three hours on the phone. I recorded some of the conversations and they lasted an hour and it was so frustrating. It just went around and around in a circle and got nowhere with them.

I’m in the wholesale/retail business and I deal with people every day. I’m with the Better Business Bureau with an AAA social media five-star rating. I’ve been in business for about 26 years and I’ve been doing what I do for 35 years. I told my wife to not even bother with companies like this because they’re good for small stuff like fixing the washer or dryer or dishwasher. But if they’re not reputable, they always scam out of it. They tell you one thing then tell you the other. These people are bad news and it's very sad. Don’t do business with a company like this. I hope it catches up with them because someone’s getting very wealthy over there at American Home Shield.

I've submitted several claims in the past months as my microwave, garage door, oven and even my refrigerator went out. All were very good and easy experiences. The techs that came for the oven and the microwave were very nice. They did what they had to do, explained what they were doing and what needed to be done, and when I had to have accommodations with my cabinetry before they could install the oven, they were very good about getting back to install it.

The guy that came to look at the microwave and oven initially said that they both needed to be replaced, and on the next day, I got a call from AHS to buy my appliances. We went online, looked at stuff and I picked my appliances. It blew me away how quickly it happened. And then they said it would take 7 to 10 days to get the microwave and the oven, but it was less than five days. I ordered them Thursday and they were here Tuesday. The guys that brought them installed them also, and did a really awesome job. They were very professional and efficient. They didn't make a mess in my house and leave me to clean it up. I was very happy with all the services. Usually filing a claim is like a nightmare, but with American Home Shield, it was so easy and everybody was so accommodating and helpful.

I also had a very good experience with the garage guy because what was wrong with my garage door was not covered by my contract, and he went out of his way to make sure I understood why it wasn't covered. He explained what was specifically wrong with my garage door opener that was not covered, and that meant the world to me. It's what keeps me with American Home Shield. Now my garage door is working excellent.

I recently filed a claim with American Home Shield for my refrigerator, and it was the second claim I had filed for that because whatever they did the first time didn't fix it. The guy from GE was very nice and professional. He was in and out in less than 45 minutes and fixed the problem. He also explained to me why it didn't work and what he did to make it work this time, and it does seem to be working, but I'm going to give it another day before I load it with groceries. The only suggestion I would have is to get someone here quicker, especially if it's a refrigerator or heater in the winter time, and air-conditioning in the summertime. But other than them having to come back for my refrigerator, I've been very satisfied overall.

I’ve also had a plumbing guy come out and tell me I needed work, which was completely unnecessary to fix the actual problem. They're just looking for business, which I wouldn't mind so much, but it was sort of a racket in that they started referring to other people. The job was very simple, my bathtub needed to be shimmed. But the plumbing guy proposed ripping the entire thing out, which was crazy.

Also, I've had someone that they've assigned to unclog a drain in one of the HVAC units but they didn't unclog it. And I've had the same problem twice because they came out and they told me it was fixed. But it was something as simple as blowing the clog out of a pipe going to the pump. Someone that I know, who has an HVAC business, came and said that whoever did the work didn't know what they were doing. That actually caused flooding in my basement and I had to get the rug replaced. So, I had bad experiences there. Having American Home Shield is a form of insurance, which is relatively inexpensive. However, I'd tell others not to expect their problem to be fixed properly and they should expect to wait.

I filed the claim online because I could never get through to a person at AHS. They put me on hold for 45 minutes to an hour at a time. I absolutely could file a claim on the phone, without question but then they sent out incompetent people who are not even trained to do an HVAC repair. They work on refrigerators but they were the ones available so they sent them out because that's who American Home Shield contracted to in our geographic area. I live in the suburb of Philadelphia and it's remarkably frustrating that they can't find competent providers.

AHS sent people out three and four at a time to try and fix things. With the HVAC, I knew that I needed to fill with Freon but it took them four visits for them to say that I needed Freon and that it's $100 a pound. I could go online and buy it for $35 a pound. They ripped me off there and I paid $75 for the service call. The guy who came out to fix our air-conditioning had no idea what he was doing. He had never repaired an HVAC system before. I couldn't believe it so I sent him home and told him to get out of my house. So I'm not a happy consumer.

I stick with them only because I have a big house with four air-conditioning units. I know eventually, they're going to go since they're 17 and a half years old But at some point, there's going to be a tipping point where I just say that it's not worth it. I'd love to hear from one of their executives. It would be my pleasure to give them feedback directly to give them an idea of what a ** job they do. I don't like using bad words but there are no other words that could be used to describe their poor service.

If a friend would ask me about AHS, I would tell them to run the opposite direction and to put the $100 a month in their savings account, so if God forbid they needed a repair done, they pay it from that account. I pay $111 a month but try picking up the phone and calling somebody to express your complaint, concern, or frustration with that organization. They're a warranty company, not an insurance company. All they do is process calls. They don't know anything about any of the repair work that they're doing and they don't have the capability. They're probably appealing to a more of a blue collar base that they know they can take advantage of. They're incompetent liars.

Since it’s getting warmer, I don’t need the heating person anymore. I asked American Home Shield for an AC person to come because the cooling isn’t good with our air conditioning unit. They scheduled that person and one week later, he came on time, checked our AC, and solved the problem. That was very good, but they told us that I need to pay another $100. We just used their service once. We paid them once but I don’t know why they asked to pay another $100. When we purchased, they didn’t tell me to pay a $100 for each service. Also, for the first two appointments, their technicians didn’t come. Everything’s fine but they continue sending me emails and letters saying that I owe them $100. So, I printed out from my bank that around May 27, we paid $100. When they asked me $100, I mailed the letter to them as payment. But they haven’t replied yet.

Two months later, my AC quit blowing cool air. We decided it might just be freon, and cancelled our request with AHS. A local company could come on a Saturday, which is a plus with our busy jobs. The determination was a part that cost $300. At this point, it was 92 and we had been without air for four days. We paid for the repair thinking we'd just submit a claim to AHS and they would reimburse us. They denied the claim the day I submitted it. I resubmitted a request stating that I have MS and that it causes heat related fatigue-- and since being hot is dangerous with my disease I paid for repairs instead of waiting another 11 days for them to get a guy, get approval and do the repairs. They denied citing no evidence was submitted that was showed proof of my need to pay claim without prior authorization and denied again.

In the meantime, my toilet cracked. They sent another guy. The rep on the phone stated that it would be covered because it's normal wear and tear. He took photos and submitted a claim to approve repairs. Two days later, I got a letter stating they only cover normal wear and tear, and this was not. My toilet is from 1984 or so. In fact, I think it's the original toilet. I called the call center and was told by a rep, that normal wear and tear is not true. It has to be total complete mechanical breakdown. So since my cracked, wobbling toilet still flushes they will not replace. I called and escalated. They refunded my service fee-- and then invoiced me for it a week later. When I called to ask why I am being billed for a refunded fee-- they state they see no bill. I am holding it in my hand as I speak to the rep. They clearly believe I need to pay them for the service fee.

In short, save your $90 bucks a month, or whatever you pay. They are not a reputable company. The left hand does not know what the right hand is doing. If you make multiple claims,they give you the bottom of the barrel companies for service calls-- and it appears their primary goal is to do as little as possible-- and assist with denying the claim. Maybe they get paid more if it gets denied. Who knows. Take the money you save and pay someone who actually cares to do a good job to fix your home when it needs repair. That way you can hold them accountable-- and since they want to get repeat business, they will truly do a good job.

We got the contractor we wanted and he called me initially then we set up the time. That was a quick and very pleasant experience. He showed up a little bit early. But before he got at our place, he called and said he had a job that ended a little earlier than expected and asked me if it was okay if he could come earlier. I told him it would work for me so, he came.

He talked to me for a minute to ask me exactly what was I seeing. Then he asked me to show him a couple of areas of the house like where the switch is and what that switch powered then he wanted to go to the circuit box to see what was going on. From there, he started running some tests then after maybe 20 minutes, he said he might know what the problem is. He brought me upstairs and showed me what he was seeing. He fixed it then he told me to try the switch. We tried it and everything was good and he closed everything back up. Since the repair, it's been great and there were no further issues.

We would definitely recommend AHS to a friend. Here in the DC metro area, we’ve been happy with at least 90% of the contractors AHS sent. I think we’ve only had one that we didn’t feel like it was 100% stellar performance. The problem that we had persisted and we ended up going to another route to get it taken care of. But since then in every encounter and with the claims that were worked on, like the furnace, hot water heater, outdoor water spigot and electrical, the people who have come out have been great.

They could’ve improved, I’m old fashioned and I’d rather talk to a person than go through their automated system but truthfully, their automated system worked and the guy showed up yesterday. They told me that they’ll be replacing the microwave, it was approved but they don’t know when or what they’re replacing it with at this point. I’m waiting to see how that goes.

4.5hrs later I called them back on hold for 35 min and was told they couldn't find anyone and that I could hire someone myself!? If I had the money to fix it myself why do I have your warranty!? Completely unacceptable in 108 degree weather!! But you don't care you're sitting in a.c.. Then I'm told they would put in a request for me to speak to a manager but that would take a few days. Best tip... save your money and do it yourself since that's what they'll make you do anyway. Absolutely horrible company and the fact that they replay the message that they take the worry out of things is a total lie.

June 16: I just got off the phone with an overworked, underpaid, and subsequently, inappropriate customer service representative about the progress of my repairs/assessment. She tried calling the contractor about the service. They didn't answer, of course. The only option she said that I had was to wait for them to call her back. I asked if I could be sent any documentation on what contractors are/are not allowed to perform on customers' homes. She said that there is no documentation available other than my contract. I asked for my call to be elevated to a supervisor and she agreed to leave them a message after refusing several times.

I have called the contractor today and they said that the service request mentioned all of the issues and they don't know why they would have gotten back to me yet. She sent the work description to them a second time. I'm on the phone now for the fourth time today waiting to get something done. My house is 93 degrees today.

UPDATED ON 07/02/2017: I have been working with AHS to get my A/C fixed since JUNE 5. I received an email last week saying that my service request for my A/C was complete while I've heard nothing at all from a vendor nor AHS. I called to see why I received the message and was told that it was an error. I was then told that in order to get anything done, I may have to resort to a cash payout. I would then have to wait for a check to be cleared and find someone to do the work for what AHS estimates it should cost. I requested that the work request be fulfilled and information on the payout be sent to me. I missed the call about this information while at work with no return number to the person who has my case.

I called back again today, July 2, and the customer representative said that she does not understand why nothing has progressed yet. She advised me to give them a call tomorrow and ask Customer Service to call the vendor. The vendor is closed until Wednesday (it's Sunday and 90F). It will have been a full month of waiting in the heat to get AHS to do what I pay them monthly to do. My next phone call will be to the AHS legal services department.

By this time, we were still without A/C, it had been a month from the original service date, and it was getting to above 105 heat index. AHS refused to reassign it or to mark it as "emergency" - They said they'd have to email him and wait 24 hours for him to get back with him (even though by this time, it was clear he would not). On the second request, the repairman called me while I was at work, and I called after work (at 3:30 pm) asking him to call during my lunch or after my work day. He called the next day while I was at work - then I never heard from him again. Went through the same run-around with AHS about this guy as with the A/C guy.

My husband called to cancel the contract, now less than 2 months into it. They charged us almost HALF of the original full amount in order to cancel - in addition to the $75 they took from us for the first A/C guy to show up and do nothing. It looks like they are still charging my credit card - DO NOT GIVE this company your credit card number!

The HVAC contractors said that American Home Shield covered the part and so they ordered that yesterday. I'm waiting to hear when that part gets in. The pool contractors, on the other hand, did a diagnosis. They were supposed to call American Home Shield to see if the parts were going to be covered or not. and they'd get back to me.

While these two claims seemed uneventful, I had a real nightmare with a washing machine issue where AHS had to reach out to Sears Kenmore. Their contractors took well over a month to get my washing machine fixed. Nevertheless, my interactions with them as an organization have been very good. Still, AHS needs to do a better job of vetting who they're using for service agreements. You have a really good experience with some of the contractors then you have a really bad experience with others. Maybe they should take people off the roster if they're not performing.

My problem had to do with heating system not working and the compatibility with the thermostat. I wanted to make sure the heating system was working but the contractor got it wrong. He said that with the way the heating system was wired, it could not work with this thermostat. But that wasn’t true because it’s working. Another thing is, since I have two properties, every time I go into the AHS system, it pulls it up but it won’t find it. So that means I have to call, and little stuff like that are a little annoying. But all-in-all AHS is a good program. As a matter of fact, I was just in Chicago and I told my friend to look at American Home Shield.

We did and called back again only to learn they couldn't find that company anymore, so they had to have another company come out. When another tech finally came (to look at the fridge and a couple of other things), AHS somehow managed to mess up the order and send 2 different techs with nearly the same work order. That set up so much confusion, the backlash of which I am still dealing with today. After a long haul and multiple trips, my fridge finally got fixed. But, believe it or not, there is still more. I have a faulty washing machine that after weeks is still broken and I can't get any resolution on. This warranty has been a waste of my money, time and sanity.

6/13/13 - Leak in AC system - Out of Freon - Company Changing Winds and Air. 6/21/14- Leak in AC system - Out of Freon - Company Changing Winds and Air. 7/28/15- Replaced blower motor, rinsed outdoor coil - Freon level good - Company-Strickland's Heating and Air. 4/20/16 - Found low on Freon. Added Sealer. Found leak on suction service valve. Added leak lock. Company - Strickland's Heating and Air. 5/28/16 - Found Compressor Locked up. Ordered and installed same day. Company - Strickland's Heating and Air. 1/7/17- Heating went out - Company Changing Winds and Air. 3/1/17 - Replaced Coil and Leak in Valves - Out of Freon - Company Changing Winds and Air. 6/12/17 - Completely out of freon again due to a big leak in the valves that Changing Winds and Air overlooked and was too lazy to fix!!!

There is absolutely NO way that in 3 months I am out of 8lbs of Freon from a new small leak. The new company that is assigned to my work order, Ohohna even stated that the prior leak on 3/1/17 was not taken care of and it looks like work of someone who is lazy and incompetent. Those were words of the new technician that came out. I called on 6/13/17 and a representative from AHS said that it doesn't matter if you put Freon in today and it leaks tomorrow, it will still be my responsibility because it's in my contract? Are you kidding me? If the company that AHS sends out to fix issues and inspect and diagnose your Unit, there shouldn't be any further issues if the job is done RIGHT! It should be either AHS responsibility or the company that came out and did not do their job properly.

In 3 months, I am completely out of Freon again due to OVERLOOKED valves that were left leaking and not sealed. Changing Winds and Air should be responsible for this or AHS should stand behind their customer. This wouldn't have happened if AHS wasn't sending incompetent companies that DO NOT do their job like they should. AHS is leaving customers spending outrageous freon fees because they send companies out that can't properly fix leaks. I feel scammed and taken advantage of.

When I called on 6/13/17 I asked to speak to a supervisor, the representative told me that the lines weren't open to speak to one at that time and one will call me back. It's now Thursday and no one has called me back. What kind of customer service is that? I have been a LOYAL customer for 5 years and from all the expenses I paid I might as well have purchased a new Central Air System. I am out of thousands of dollars because AHS can't stand behind companies that do a crappy job.

If AHS does not cover the Freon Charges that Changing Winds and Air neglected to fix on 3/1/17, OR replaces my AC unit due to reoccurring problems. I will be finding a new reputable Home Warranty Company that actually stands behind their customers and does not let a "contract" dictate their customer service and have values and morals. I don't want to hear that crap about "It's in your contract and we can't do anything." Yes you can. It's called standing behind your customers and acknowledging that a company that you send out to do repairs are not doing their job properly and neglecting repairs. So please AHS if you really value your customers and claim to be the reputable company, please take this review into consideration as I am tired of all these expenses. No one should be having these many issues with their Central Air System.

I also love their application when they tell me if my contractor or technician is on the way and I can see exactly how far they are. For the tank, they told me 9:30 but at 8:30, they told me that he was already on his way. I am glad that they send a message because I was about to leave really quick and then come back. Also, the service is nice because they talk to you and they explain what is the problem. I let the guy work because I hate being behind the people, but I did look a little bit. They have the knowledge and they helped us a lot. So, everything is done in a couple of hours and it was pretty fast. Now we have a brand new water tank.

From the experience that we've had, I think American Home Shield has good relationships with their contractors. They have noble people who work for them. I definitely trust them in selecting the contractor. Furthermore, I find it to be more convenient to have a home warranty rather than doing it on your own. And I've recommended American Home Shield to several people who are buying a home right now.

There are about seven bathroom tiles that have to be taken down around the sink. The young man that was doing the plumbing work told me that he knew somebody who did that work so we called that person but he didn't call me back. So, I contacted other people who might do that work but they haven't called us back either yet. It's been more than 10 days now. I feel though that ATR should be able to remove a couple of tiles to be able to do the plumbing since the plumbing is in the walls and buried underneath. Other than this, my experience with American Home Shield has been pretty good.

Getting a new appliance should be exciting and pleasurable... but when you have no say so in picking it out... that's terrible. They will give us $760 to use to buy whatever we want... haha! Only ovens we find for that price are "refurbished" ovens. All the 24 inch double ovens in our area, including the GE, they are forcing us to take, cost between $1500-$1800 dollars... much more than the $760 they are offering us to find a replacement oven. We are being blackmailed into taking something of lesser value than what we currently have and not at all what we want. Can't even take the money you are giving us to pay for a new one of our choice without adding over $1000 dollars of our own money. There is something seriously wrong with this picture. Home Warranty Buyers beware!

I received a phone call from the Authorizations department while I was at work and was told I was not covered because the technician had found shelving liner in the drain. I asked if there was anything else I could do and I was told they would not cover it and I had to handle it myself. When talking with my wife later, I learned that the technician had not actually removed anything from the drain but instead was simply using what she had said as an excuse to give up. The technician never even attempted anything from the crawl space or the outside access to the pipe, but he insisted the line would need to be hydro jetted...

My wife contacted a local experienced plumber on Wednesday June 14th and he arrived within an hour. He arrived at 1:30 and had cleared the clog, cleaned up after himself and left by 3:45. He was able to clear the entire clog using a snake from my crawl space. The whole problem was you couldn't snake it from the kitchen because of the T junction preventing the snake from going where it needed to go. The plumber confirmed that it was only a build up of grease, which should be expected when a house has been vacant for several years. His total bill was around $250.

I contacted AHS to be reimbursed for the repair, because we should have been covered considering there were no foreign objects. I spoke to Theresa in Customer Service. She quickly denied any responsibility and said I would need to talk to Authorizations. She placed me on a silent hold for a solid 10 minutes before finally transferring me over, which took another couple of minutes to connect. The operator in Authorizations was equally bull-headed. She states over and over again that if I would have "demanded" a second opinion, I was entitled to one, but since I did not emphatically demand that I needed a second opinion to the original Authorization operator their hands were clean of any wrongdoing.

They were completely unwilling to pay for the plumbing work or make any kind of restitutions. When I asked to speak to their supervisor, she said she could fill out a form that would prompt her supervisor to call me within 48 hours. I told her I would like to wait on hold so I could get some sort of confirmation that the form had been filled out. She said that would be fine. After a 10-15 minute silent hold she came back and said the form had been filled out, but she couldn't provide any confirmation. She also would not provide me with an employee id. I do not have high hopes that I will receive a call from her supervisor.

A customer should not have to know that we have to "demand" a second opinion, we should not have to use specific key words to get the operators to perform tricks and serve us properly. I worked in a customer service role for 5 years and cannot imagine treating a customer this way - hiding policies and costing them money. I fully intend to cancel my warranty (granted they will reimburse me, obviously) and switch to a home warranty company that will actually take care of their customers.

Last year I called on a Friday as my AC was freezing up and they could not get out to look at it till Tues. Where I live it gets over 100 so I cancelled the call and somebody else came out by the next morning and fixed it and never mentioned that I have a rusted out heat pump. Now it's that time again, I called them and again their rep. spent 15 min. said we were leaking freon and the system needs replaced. He will turn it in and they should cover it, but never mentioned water damage. I got a call from AHS a couple hours later stating they were denying the claim due to contractor said heat pump rusted out due to water damage from sprinkler. I told the company that I do not have a sprinkler in that area and why would he say that as he didn't even take the hood off the system to look at it and anyway the system is outside in the weather and you don't think rain gets in there. She said rain is not covered.

I got a second opinion and they came, said, "No replacement needed. It's just the tank which is leaking and it looks like it's wear and tear due to the weather elements and again AHS should take care of this." They denied the first claim as the other contractor just wanted to replace it. 2 days later I just got a call that they are denying due to water damage. I have been paying for 10 years so that if my air ever went out I would have coverage. What a waste of money. I will be contacting all my referrals to let them know how this company works. I also had to pay $100.00 per contractor and still nothing was done.

After multiple phone calls of being on hold, they finally told us that it is not covered because it is our fault that the system is broken. My family and I have been so hot for the last few months only to be told that we would have to pay for it ourselves due to neglect. We are being retaliated against because we continued to call in. I have been with this company for over 10 years and this is really sad that this is what we are having to deal with.

Original Review: June 14, 2017

I'm very disappointed with American Home Shield. Our air conditioner went out. We called AHS and they told us the name of the company they would send. After looking up the company and seeing that they only have 4 reviews online and 3 of them are absolutely horrible, I decided to not use them. I called AHS back and canceled the work order. My husband called back to request a different company. The rude lady he spoke with doesn't seem to care about our situation. She said that company was the only one they used. He asked to speak with a manager. He gets ahold of a so-called manager and she says there are two other companies they could use. Both have great ratings so we picked one. The manager said she would personally send us an email with an update on the work order.

Next day, we called the chosen company and they haven't received the work order. We also never got an email. So my husband has called twice since then. It's been a couple of days now. No one has returned his call. What a joke! I'd like to make a prediction. What will happen next is that someone will finally come out to fix or replace our AC unit but it somehow won't be covered thanks to loopholes, special wording or lies.

Original Review: June 14, 2017

6 months after moving into our home, our AC went out. The tech from the local company that our compressor needed to be replaced, and would be completely covered under our warranty. Two days passed with no response from either company so we called to ask what was going on. They told us that we would need to agree to pay $700 for freon or they would not pay for any portion of the repair. I called two more companies to inquire about the price of freon and they said we were being severely overcharged.

American Home Shield refused to use any other company for the repair and refused to issue a check. They said if we do not pay they will not cover any portion of the repair. We have been living in a house that is between 90-100 degrees inside for 3 days since the claim was filed. We have now had to purchase two AC units because my wife has asthma, and are still being told to pay $700 for the repair. Isn't the purpose of a warranty to avoid paying for unexpected repairs?

The third (Jay's Appliance), the fourth (The Fridge Guy), the fifth (A&E Services) guy came out with a range of replacement parts from refrigerate boosts to replacement of small parts. Then, where I am now, the sixth (Suffolk Appliance and Parts) comes out and says there is a leak in the compressor and his solution is to fill it with more refrigerant. So, paid service fees for the first 4 visits and made an agreement with AHS that I would pay for the service fees after the refrigerator was fixed. The fifth visit I did not pay the fee because I felt the Thermostat replacement (took 4 days) would not be the end to this. And I was right. It isn't working.

I called up AHS tonight and was on hold for 25 min. The representative (Kieshania EMPL#**) said she could not send a technician out until I pay for the fifth service fee and the sixth service fee. The representative refused to forward the call to a supervisor. I was in disbelief that there wasn't anyone else I could talk to. She did offer to take my number a have the supervisor call me back. That was disturbing to hear because I did that on a previous service where it took 2 weeks for the supervisor to get back with me. Like I said, it's more miss than hit when dealing with AHS. Oh, they also don't keep accurate records online. It only shows 2 tech visits for the refrigerator. I was on the phone with the representative this evening and confirmed the other 4 tech visits.

I always enjoy talking to the technicians too but last time I got a little frustrated because it was hot and humid. But the guy was very understanding because he knows what the humidity and temperature here in South Texas is since he is from Bomont which is an hour and a half away. He rushed in and made sure everything got taken care of as it should have and it worked out well. I've been with AHS for about two years now and I've used them six times. I'm always telling somebody that I have AHS and if they just bought a house and they're worried, it's something they should look into especially the older houses because AHS covers almost anything and it gives peace of mind too.

My argument with them was this was an installation not a modification since the heating system was already in place and I was not changing the heating system, but to no avail. Then when the unit was installed (I had a Trane) I ended up getting a brand called "Payne" which they said was a knockoff of Carrier. My analogy to them was I paid for a Cadillac but I got a Chevy. They buy the cheapest quality they can. They then indicated that I could take the cash instead which was a paltry $800, when the price for a 3 ton heat pump is over $2,000, plus then I would have to pay for the installation.

Anyway, I had to have them do the work and use their heat pump since it was the middle of winter and I was without heat for over a week already at this point. Fast forward 5 months later, it's in the 90's and the A/C does not work! American Home Shield wants to charge me again for the service call and if the unit has to be replaced I'm on the hook for another $2,000 for the "modifications" to install the exact same unit that only lasted 5 months to begin with. There are many other home warranty companies out there, this may be the biggest but it certainly is not the best. I just went with Choice Home Warranty, they give you a discount if you switch and their service calls are cheaper. I don't know how Choice Home Warranty is but I know they can't be worse than American Home Shield.

Need a new water heater? Plan to pay hundreds more to get the water heater to "code". Hot water inflow stops due to sediment build up related to new hot water heater provided through AHS plumber? Plan to pay $2000 because plumbing restrictions are not covered. They will only fix the valve which is a $20 purchase at Home Depot.

Coverage - 1 Star: Their very carefully worded contract is used to deceive its customers. They have very blanket basic overages, and even more broad exclusions which allows them to claim they are not liable. Thus, when I reach out to have something fixed on which I expect would be covered, I end up having to eat the cost. When reading through the contract at a deeper level, you come to realize that they have reimbursement limits which are way less than a typical service would cost. Essentially, their service does not provide me the financial security that should come with a home warranty.

Customer Service - 1 Star: Hold times are 30 minutes to an hour. Their staff is not knowledgeable. All the questions you answer when first calling in are then asked again by customer service. They say they are working on an issue, but they only become proactive once you follow up multiple times. I waited 30 minutes one time just to talk to a supervisor only to get her voicemail (still waiting for that callback). I also called on a Thursday to determine status of no hot water that technicians reviewed on Tuesday. They said they are still reviewing diagnosis. Called back again on Monday, and after a few hours on the phone was finally told that they need to talk with the plumber because they have not talked to him since the previous Monday. Value: Zero.

Original Review: June 13, 2017

I have had 3 repairman out here to fix a dishwasher that's over 15 years old and that has taken over a month and it's still not fixed. I have never had a claim except this one and I've been paying $48 a month over three years and they refused to give me a new dishwasher. They say that they have to now research it since the service company which is Sears could not find the part.

Well at 8:00 pm I got an email that stated my portion of the payment was $1,060 for a 40-gallon water tank. I called HomeAdvisor and they sent 3 contractors and all of them were cheaper than that price without AHS. So I called AHS and explained the problem and the representative informed me that certain parts of the water heater are covered but not the actual water heater... WHAT? I am livid and beyond upset. I asked to speak to a supervisor but of course none were available. I will be pursuing this further... legally if I have to. BUYER BEWARE!

Original Review: June 13, 2017

After paying for AHS ShieldPlus Warranty for over 1.5 years and never asking for a penny, they weren't there when we needed them. A/C went out at my rental property and unfortunately the property manager did not go through AHS (clerical error). Even though they used an approved and insured vendor, AHS refused to reimburse the repair. I will say their customer service was polite but don't waste your money on AHS warranty.

On June 5, the repair man came back and he was able to detect one leak at the indoor evaporation coil and another leak at outdoor line valve (that was all he wrote down on the invoice). He took the pictures and then wrote down the units' numbers and said they would order the coil and the valve and they would called us to set up an appointment for him to come back to replace them. It would take him a couple of hours to fix it.

The contractor hadn't called us since June 5 and on June 12, I called the contractor (around 8:20 AM) and they said they still waited for a paperwork and would call us back. Around 5:30 PM that day, AHS called us. I was at work at that time and had to call them back. They said they denied the service because the contractor submitted that the coil leak was caused by being hit by an object which rendered the AC was not properly maintained.

I didn't have enough time to argue at that time and when I got home I called AHS again around 7:00 PM. This time we talked to an representative name Melissa (from Georgia center), we tried to argue that we did not do anything to the evaporation coil and the repair man did not mentioned about something hitting the coil at all. He also did not write down anything about the coil being hit. The representative insisted that nothing she could do and suggested us to set up an appointment for a second opinion.

Being a loyal customer for 7 years without missing a fee, we are really disappointed with AHS service. It has been 2 weeks since the 1st service and nothing has been done for our broken AC. Even worse, AHS denied to service our AC based something that was not true to our opinion. Being a loyal customer to AHS and seeing our kids suffered the hot summer with a broken AC really angers us. We feel like we were tricked into buying the home warranty and feel like we wasted all our trusts and investments to AHS.

Steven Vandervort is one of their appliance people and he is far better than when they dispatch somebody else. It's the same for D&T Heating and Cooling. It's very good. A guy comes and it’s professional. This year, I didn't get an increase from AHS but a feature was dropped. We've been paying for the water softener for the last 10 years and all of a sudden it was dropped. Also, some of the paperwork of AHS are a little hard to use. Nevertheless, I'm happy and I'll continue to stay with AHS.

There was a time when the whole house was plugged up. We called in and took about 30 minutes to actually talk to somebody. They told me they could only get somebody out here after 6 hours. But the person they gave me wasn’t the correct contractor. I called back three or four times, then they gave me the other contractor. But when I tried to call the company there was an issue -- ‘cause it was on a Saturday. The whole office shut down. Didn’t tell me they were coming for sure or not. So, I called back and complained and said, “Hey, where’s my person?” So, the person put on another work order to send another person out. He had the pipes flowing 30 minutes. It was out by the street, where the plug was, and problem was solved.

Last year, we had a leaky faucet in the bathtub. They changed out the faucet and what we found out was a chunk of tape stuck in the balancing valve which was two inches over from the main valve. It ended up costing me $600 for another plumber to come in and fix all this. So, they changed it all out and I paid all this money and guess what? It doesn’t flow any different than it did before. The water comes out and if somebody flushes the toilet, you still get hot water or cold water. It didn’t balance out the system or fixed anything they said was going to fix. Maybe it’s not totally the tech’s fault. It’s an old house. I don’t know how it’s built or why it’s built like it is, but the tech’s don’t understand the way the plumbing’s working in this house.

With my washing machine, I had to put a backflow preventer on it so the water didn’t come up out of the pipe and below out in the floor. The last guy that came in here and he said, “Yeah, you definitely got some problems with the plumbing and this is what needs to be updated on the plumbing.” He said, “You’re gonna have to keep the backflow preventer in, but it vent in the house.” He goes, “You need to run this pipe all the way out the roof.” He said, “That’s just the new washing machines are.” And, yes, I’ve had water on the floor before because of the washing machine.

Four and a half years ago, when they changed out the air handler, they left a great big chunk of insulation in the flue where it goes to all the different rooms. So, it cut off the air of half of my house. I called to have your guys come out and fix it. They come out there, “Oh, there’s nothing we can do.” A year later, ‘cause the air conditioner compressor blew up, finally, they changed that out and the guy who changed that out he goes, “There’s something really wrong ‘cause these things are supposed to be flowing free.” We cut open the air box and found that a four by three foot sheet of insulation, at three quarter inch thick, laying there covering up all these ducts. So, which tech do you want to blame on this? Because it came out of the original air handler that they took out.

Here’s another thing that ticks me off. Ever since they put that air handler in, every year I’ve had to put in freon in this thing. I have to put between one and three pounds in it. Last year, I had them come out and put some special sealer in the air conditioning unit to seal up the units so, if it did start leaking it would plug it. Finally, it worked. It cost me $280 to get that stuff put in. American Home Shield wouldn’t pay for it. I’d had another contractor come in to fix it, which their contractors didn’t do when installing in the first place.

Also, last year when my father-in-law’s air conditioner was getting bad (it’s been in there since 1979), I had a guy look at it and they say the home warranty’s gonna fix it. It’s rusting out and it just needs to be replaced ‘cause it’s old, still barely working and they said, “We’ll just fix it.” It’s a SEER 8. Now, it’s at what, SEER 23? We’re talking about how inefficient that is. But American Shield will fix. They will not replace.

Then there’s my garbage disposal. The thing started leaking down the side of it. The guy comes out here. He goes, “I can’t touch it.” He goes, “That old unit is corroded. I can’t change it ‘cause the warranty won’t pay for it.” It’s leaking in my cabinet. So, I had to go out there and buy a new one and fix it myself. If I can go in there and I can fix this stuff myself faster and do it right, there’s a problem there. Just like changing my water heater. They come out there and they say, ”Oh, this isn’t to code.” So, it’s gonna cost me as much for the water heater to add a disconnect. I could go buy the thing usable, disconnect for $39 at Home Depot and they want $508 to install one?

And there isn’t enough repairs in my house that’s like to have that sewer line done. The guy who actually did it said they charged American Home Shield $350. But they said that really, the actual cost to do it is, if you pay for it cash, it’s only $225. Figure that one out. Who’s the one getting the run around on this one? And then they say they’re gonna charge $350 when they really actually get $350. I don’t have that answer, really.

I’m not gonna blame American Home Shield because they buy services from contractors. The contractors they use should be posted online. When I see these other guys come out there and do it, they’re just looking to get the damn thing done and it’s just crazy. If they’re trying to fix their system, they better get some honest techs and repair people that know what the heck’s going on and how to fix things. And some of the stuff is American Home Shield’s problem like getting things scheduled and things in and out the door. But it’s more than just one thing. It’s both. I mean, it’s the coordination between the contractors and American Home Shield. Actually, the quality of what’s being done. When you get a contractor come into your house and you don’t know Spanish and all they know is Spanish. You got a problem when they got their 14 year-old kid interpreting plumbing.

Don’t use AHS. Go find somebody else because they’re not affordable. They’re not even practical anymore.

I was astonished when I saw the bill and objected but paid the subcontractor (who by the way in the process of the repair caused major flooding damage to the carpeted half of my garage and just left a fan which didn't dry fast enough to prevent the molding etc), and I called American Home Shield to protest and seek amends, but was callously told that once they contract the job out, they are not responsible for any additional charges applied or damages caused by the plumbing company. Apparently it's somewhere in the fine print or between the lines. I am fearful of retaliation and can't afford a lawyer, so I don't want to appeal. I'm just sharing my experience to be helpful to other consumers. Thank you.

I called the KitchenAid people we normally deal with and they do not carry GE and will not install because of warranty issues. I have no idea what we are to do! I am at my wit's end. Our current microwave is leaking radiation and we cannot use it. The other one can't be installed! Is there not anyone at AHS who can find a solution for us? I am a realtor and have purchased these policies over the years for my clients. We have had our own just a couple of years and this is the first time trying to use it. We are also waiting for a dryer and dishwasher to be repaired since April 21. AHS is sending out another repair person on June 12th to look at it, so we are starting over with that! It appears to me that the issue is with the contractors in the AHS network. This is just unacceptable!

We had AHS at our old home for nine years too but they cancelled us. We have had quite a lot of claims and it was right when AHS had been sued and had to make a settlement for all of the first year claims that they had denied. They had their auditors go through and look for people who would have a lot of claims. I’ve had a couple of claims that were very expensive, like replacing a whole system. AHS said we always had the option of cancelling, though. When I went online to look for another warranty, AHS had cancelled lots of people because they had to pay out millions in penalties in claims.

There was a problem at our old house that AHS had fixed a couple of times, though. It was a timer valve thing on our old hot water heating system. But when the new company came in, they said that they didn't do anything that had rust. I had to fight with them over this $400-claim to say, “Look, it’s rusted because the valve opened and it was dripping inside." Whereas with American Home Shield, I did not have that issue on the previous two claims. AHS is number one in the industry for a reason.

AHS put us back with our home now 'cause it's a different home. They did the air conditioning system in this house, which was a minor issue and I had asked the people to purchase one for us as part of the settlement. But they also have the policy that they will only replace like with like. Our air condition compressor was 13 years old and they still had ones with the old Freon in them and that was all AHS was going to give us. The Freon is up to $80 a pound and is only going to get more expensive because it is not being produced anymore because of the environmental factors. So they were going to screw us on that one. If the new one lasted 15 years, it was not going to be cost-effective. But then they gave us $1,200 towards the new system that we chose to purchase. So they still settle claims well.

Also on a particular day the AC wasn’t working. The tech explained to me it was something inside and that he had to go inside the furnace downstairs, the main unit, to fix it. He got it done and it works just like it’s always worked. I’ve been with American Home Shield for a few years now and they’re pretty efficient in what they do as far as getting the issue handled in a timely fashion.

My husband called AHS Wednesday night and a rep explained to him that the vendor should come out within 48hrs. Well AHS stated they could contact another vendor but the clock will start all over again. I called the next morning and basically I was given the same response. A new vendor request would mean someone would not be out until the following Tuesday or Wednesday. AHS acts as if customer service and satisfaction is not a priority. I pay my monthly fee for services that I can get at their convenience. They do not try to resolve issues and there is no sense of urgency with them. Here I am on my weekend off from work waiting on the repairman. He probably will not show until later after the time frame quoted, as this has been my experience in the past. I plan on switching to another company that will appreciate my hard earned money and act like I am a priority instead of an inconvenience.

Then my boiler went out, the same company does the boiler as does the air conditioning. I couldn’t have it done by them so I paid $5,500 out of my pocket to have the boiler fixed. I would like people to know what’s going on over here with that air conditioning company. I’m not the first one to complain about them. Also, the guy from AC Harris would come and say that people want to kill him because he had another job. I called AHS to let them know about this. I was on the phone constantly but nobody seemed to care. I was a firm believer of American Home Shield until this happened. But I’m still staying with AHS. Everybody else have been good. When they couldn’t fix it, they let me get it fixed outside, so that was all fine.

In addition, AHS' price goes up every year. It would be nice if they gave a discount when you've been with them for a period of time, like what insurance companies do. I've been with AHS for almost five years. It makes me want to see if somebody else got a better price. Other than that, I've had a great experience with AHS.

There were multiple things that went on and it wasn't just the pool heater. The hot water heater also went out. We happen to have multiple hot water heaters and we were able to take a bath in another room. We ended up getting a brand new hot water heater, and we paid $500 for that. Then our oven went out as well. We happen to have another kitchen so it was okay. But the oven would start beeping crazy sporadically throughout the night and it was really annoying to the household. And because that was in the home, we had to be there constantly. They came out about five or six times as well for the oven before they finally gave up. We got a brand new oven, which we only paid the service call for $75 instead of $1,500.

At first, American Home Shield wanted to only give us credit towards the oven. And because it was with the house and it's 14 years old, they couldn't find exactly the one that we had. Ours was stainless steel and they had one that was only one part on it was white. We asked them why they would put a white piece on a stainless steel oven and so we ended up back and forth on that. Ultimately, my wife convinced them and they gave us the oven for no charge because they couldn't replace it. But it took multiple calls for that.

At the moment, all the equipment seem to be doing fine. And if I take a holistic look at it, it ended up being a benefit because it saved me several thousand dollars in my pocket. But it's kinda frustrating in one respect because of the way that it took so long for some of the contractors, especially with the oven and the pool. It was a tough learning experience but overall it was good.

I called another company and asked them what should be done. I got a list of all the things that weren't done that should have been done when the first guy came. I'm waiting for him to come tomorrow and we'll be going over the list. He didn't check the freon level, didn't check to find out if there was in fact communication between the thermostat and the compressor, and didn't blow out the condensation line. He said he fixed the wires but I don't know if he fixed them or not. I never saw him fix anything. This is crazy. This guy has got to be the dumbest guy in the company or he just didn't feel like doing what needed to be done as what I was told by the technician who I talked to. Contractors just come and tell the homeowner anything and leave. That may be the case here, but I will find out tomorrow. And if it doesn't work out, I'll be calling American Home Shield and will be telling them my experience with this guy coming for the third time.

In my instance, I give them $75, they assess the situation and the parts needed then they order them. I had one incident where they had to fix my toilet and it took five times to get it right. The first two guys that they sent me came very late and it was out of the guidelines but the owner of that company rectified it. And outside of that, Sears and all the other companies have been very professional. For some people, it’s hard to only be available from Monday to Friday. A good majority of the people work, so you have to take a day off. But they have improved with the windows and since they’ve gone online, you can set your own appointments between 8:00 and 1:00, 12:00 and 2:00, 3:00 and 5:00, which is better for the consumer. American Home Shield doesn’t provide service on the weekends. But it would be nice for them to be available.

During the hottest part of the July our AC broke down. I live in Virginia and it was unbearably hot and humid last year. It took a week before a someone came out to look at the AC unit and determined it had to be replaced. That took weeks for AHS to agree to the replacement of my AC then a couple more weeks to get the new AC and because I had a heat pump that had to be replaced too. I called and complain. They offered to pay me 60 to buy portable fans for to cool the house while they made their decision about replacing the unit. The AC finally got replaced and all repairs were completed after the heat had passed and the weather'd cooled. The AC unit that was put in is broken again. The unit was not installed correctly. Now 5 days into trying to get the unit repaired!!!

Then the plumbing was clogged up throughout the house in August 2016. I called AHS several times starting on a Thursday then Friday explaining to their employee the plumbing situation and how we couldn't use the bathroom or even shower, they politely apologize and told me because it was Friday I'd have to wait until Monday or Tuesday for someone to contact me. So the whole weekend we had to stay at lodging on base. I ended up calling a plumber. Getting it repaired myself. That should have been an emergency service call and they should've rushed it through the system in cases like the above-mentioned. When we tried to address these issues they fell on deaf ears.

Unfortunately, that was my last pain and hassle-free interaction with AHS. Since, I've had numerous small, covered repairs for which I opened AHS service tickets, and every single one of them required significant work and time investment on my part in order to get the work approved or the contractors to show up. Every time I have a contractor out to my house, we go through the exact same song and dance. They will come check it out, call AHS for approval, and then tell me AHS won't cover it. This will start a long, drawn-out back and forth between me and the AHS service representatives. Every single time I have a service request opened, the default response from AHS is "That's not covered".

The first person I talk to will tell me it's not covered, and then transfer me to someone else who will admit that it is. Or the service representative will claim to not be knowledgeable enough about my contract to make a decision and transfer me to a "contract representative" who will know more, and that person will approve the work. Or they will blame the contractor, saying that their report of the needed work/repairs is different from mine and they'll have to reach out to them in order to reconcile the difference, which will take days or weeks. This problem is particularly nasty if you need follow-up work done. If a technician created 4 holes in your wall looking for a leaking pipe, but only wrote 2 in his report to AHS (which you don't get to see, by the way - I've asked), then AHS will summarily deny your request for follow-up service until they contact the contractor at their own convenience to resolve the discrepancy.

I have had things that are blatantly covered in crystal clear black-and-white in my contract denied by AHS. They invent new reasons to deny my requests every time I call, none of which are EVER listed anywhere in my contract, let alone in the limitations and exclusions section. They won't cut the holes to access plumbing, citing the standard note in all their contracts:

"NOTE: Where covered repairs require access to plumbing, AHS will only provide access to plumbing through unobstructed walls, ceilings or floors, and will return access openings to a rough finish. If the plumbing is accessible only through a concrete floor, wall or ceiling, AHS will pay up to $500 per contract term for access to, repair to, or replacement of such plumbing, including returning access openings to a rough finish."

They will never define what an "unobstructed wall" is, which leaves them total carte blanche to deny any service request, which they've done to me on multiple occasions for regular old drywall. I've even been told they won't cover any repairs if they have to cut through wood. I've called back the next day and had the exact same work approved by someone else. Or they'll deny the work because the technician has to stand outside the back door on the patio to cut into that section of the wall instead of inside the door, citing some other non-existent clause about covering work on the exterior of homes. Or the first service representative will tell you something isn't covered by the core coverage plan, and not even bother reviewing any additional coverage plan items you may have paid for.

It's always something, it's always a new excuse why they won't cover it, and their excuses are NEVER delineated in my contract. Prior to filing any service request, I review my contract carefully to ensure the work in question is indeed covered in clear language by my service contract. Each and every time, the first service representative will tell me it isn't covered. Often, the second or third person will deny the request also. Eventually, I'll get to someone who will say, "Mr. **, I'm reviewing your contract and hose bibs/leaking shower heads/whatever are indeed covered. Let me inform our service representatives and transfer you back to them."

The entire system seems designed to make customers so frustrated with the process that they decide to withdraw their service requests. I have handled multiple repairs myself because I simply didn't want to spend an hour or two of my day on the phone with AHS customer service. Additionally, my wife and I have a very small suspicion of collusion between AHS and some of the contractors with whom we repeatedly get assigned. The technicians who come out are quick to say they know AHS won't cover it, but fast to take your $75 for driving out. I considered not including this in my review because it is totally anecdotal and perhaps unfair, but we have noticed this several times and, as frugal and cynical homeowners, the thought has crossed our mind. At the very least, it has affected our experience with AHS, though likely due to no fault of theirs. Nonetheless, I felt it relevant enough to include.

This has been my consistent experience with AHS over the last 2-3 years and over approximately 8-10 service requests. I'm not here talking about a single request where AHS gave me some pushback and I got upset about it and now I'm venting online. It's a predictable, recurring theme that plays out, without fail, every single time I submit a request for service.

Because of this downward trend of poor service and increasing hassle, I will not be renewing my contract when my term expires later this summer. I cannot recommend AHS to anyone at this time. I'm happy to answer any follow-up questions, provide my AHS agreement number/contract for review, or anything else that will support this review.

Then a couple of days later, I got a call from AHS saying that my condenser is old and they cannot supply me the same kind of condenser. They need to change it to a newer system. And they also have to change the blower that I fixed so that it will be compatible with it. For that, I will have a $3,500 out of pocket expense, which was outrageous. I told them that all the charges were extreme because I asked around and the charges for the material are not much. It’s the work that they charge me a lot of money. It was $3,500 and for every adjustment like garbage collecting, it was $200. They charge me for everything.

In the end, we decided to get cash back out of them and do the job ourselves with a company that we are very familiar with and we know to be very fair-priced. They only offered us $1,900. When the job is gonna finish, I will have to supply AHS the receipt to get the cash back. They wanted to only cover the machine itself. I was very unhappy and disappointed.

AHS charges you and doesn’t cover you 100 percent. The contractor comes and AHS decides which ones they're covering and which ones they're not and how much to charge for every item not covered. If there’s an adjustment that needs to be done, they charge you an outrageous number while every other person that will come and do the job for you will not charge you such charge. In the end, I had the feeling that with the amount that they ask me to cover out of pocket, they’re covering the cost of the whole job. That was my gut feeling. Even if I was gonna lose money, I’m not gonna give them the job. I didn’t feel that it’s right for them to charge me these prices. I’m very dissatisfied to the point that I’m thinking of coming out of American Home Shield.

The first plumber that came asked me if I put the hose on it. He told me it's water damage because the hose was on it for the whole winter. I am not a plumber but that didn't make sense because it was on it for less than 24 hours. He said we can call him to fix it but that's not going to be covered. I disagreed and I said I wanted a second opinion. A second plumber came in a few days later and he told me that's not water damage. He said it was normal wear and tear because it was right there for years so he fixed it. I received an email from American Home Shield saying that for the second opinion, I have to pay for the visit as well. I called to find out why. Somebody told me that because the second plumber has not billed the claim yet, they still don't know what his final diagnosis is. They want me to disregard this email and to wait until they have all the paperwork and then they will get back to me.

I have been a customer of American Home Shield for almost 10 years now and this is the first time I have a problem with them. I'm not going to consider a one thing like that to say they are not good. I would still stay with them and keep going. So far, my experience with them has been good. For American Home Shield, there will not be any lasting problem that would make me change my mind and terminate my relationship with them.

The contractors that Home Shield sent are all cordial, respectful, and professional too. They respect your home. They come in and do what they got to do. Also, they talk over the issue with you. If they know they need Home Shield’s approval, they'll tell you right upfront, “'Hey, I need to turn this forward at Home Shield,” and then they'll get back with us and we'll go from there. However, one thing that irritates me about the company is that every renewal period, they change your contract number. I have this locked in my phone. I have to memorize the first one and next year, I got a new number. I don't do this like that, but that's their way.

The only way that I knew that they weren't ever coming back was I got an email from American Home Shield telling me that another appliance repair company was answering my service call. It was the initial service call, and they did not mention that the other guys were never coming back or that the call had been transferred to someone. The company got out and it took the guy ten minutes to adjust all six burners and he was gone.

That's been the case with a lot of my appliances. I tell the American Home Shield operator I have Fisher & Paykel appliances in my kitchen and it's a New Zealand company and there are few appliance companies that are qualified to work on those appliances. After several times of American Home Shield sending out people, they just look and they say that they don’t have an idea how to work on it, and that I’m gonna have to get somebody else.

Every time that I have a problem with any of my kitchen appliances, I tell them exactly what I've got, what the problem is, and to not send someone out that can't work or is not familiar with the brand because that frustrates me. Them having to redispatch somebody wastes my time. They may attempt to repair it and not know what they're doing and damage it even further. They never understand when I tell them that.

The guy that eventually came out and fixed the problem told me that the problem with American Home Shield vendors is they all say, "I can fix anything", and then they get out there and they can't. Then they just tell the customer that their not familiar with that brand, but they get the service call charge. And then the next guy has to come out for free. Then they told me on the phone that there would be another service charge. When I finally put this all together, that they had transferred the call, and called the 800 number, they said that I'll be responsible for another service call charge. So, I said, "I don't think so, because the guys that you sent out here the first time couldn't repair it and you didn't call me to tell me they were never coming back."

We went back and forth, and then they got a supervisor on the phone and then another supervisor. The upshot of it all was they couldn't make a decision on the phone whether they were going to charge me another service call charge so they said, "We'll call you back and let you know what we've decided." They did call back and they said, "Okay, there will be no second service call charge and here's who is coming", so on and so forth. The stove finally got fixed after a month of all of this going back and forth and the wrong guys and the new guys.

A lot of times American Home Shield wants to replace parts instead of replacing the entire unit. I had a freestanding ice maker in my kitchen and they replaced every major part in that ice maker before the last guy came out. They've replaced the compressor, the motor, the refrigeration unit, the ice delivery mechanism – every single thing. The guy goes, "That's $3000 worth of parts." I said, "The whole thing was $1400." Then he goes, "I'm going to recommend a new one."

The guy and American Home Shield had this big, long conversation on the phone, making him justify a new unit. And he finally said, "This guy has been repairing this now for three months and they've replaced every part in it when it should have been replaced from the get-go. You guys have wasted two and a half times the cost of this ice maker by replacing parts when you could have just, three months ago, bought him a new one and saved yourself $1600. But you didn't want to do it that way." After 30 minutes on the phone arguing with the American Home Shield people, they agreed that they would replace it. It took ten days to two weeks to get a new one, and then they came out and replaced it.

I've found that's a trend with them. I understand not throwing out the baby with the bathwater. If it's a simple part and it's $10 or $20 and it will make it right and fix it, I'm all for it. I don't care what it takes to make it work. I just want it to work, whether that's parts or a new one whatever, let's get it up and running. Let's get it fixed so people don't have to keep coming back out every three weeks, months, six weeks, whatever it is. Because that's frustrating.

I understand they're in the business of fixing things, not replacing things. I get the business model. I understand they can't just start buying people new refrigerators or new stoves because they don't work right this second. Let's find out what's wrong with it, let's fix it, but let's make sure that it's the repair that will fix the problem.

I had to do a lot of legwork to make AHS to get out. I've had friends of mine that have been canceled by American Home Shield because they had too many repairs. And I get it. If people are calling them every week and it's something in your home, at some point the folks are going to say, "This guy has got a bunch of old junky appliances and we're going to go broke fixing them all. Let's just go ahead and cut him off and cut our losses." A lot of my frustration would be eliminated if AHS can get the right people to come out the first time. It takes half a day of my time every time there's a problem in my home scheduling, getting them there, them calling me, leaving work or whatever I'm doing, getting them to the house, waiting for them. And then again when they can't fix it or they don't know what they're doing, again them coming back out and they get there and they say, "We didn't know it. You'll have to get somebody else."

The more people in positions of authority at that company know what the actual customers go through, then they can institute policies and procedures within the company where they could streamline a lot of what they do. Because it's costing them money to make these mistakes as well as being frustrating and time-consuming for me. It's costing them money to dispatch two or three different companies to fix something that took a guy, who knew what he was doing, ten minutes to fix.

The amount of issues I did have with this company is completely ridiculous. From them not having me or my information on the schedule, calling me 3 times before they even came to my house (taking up my morning at work) to calling me one more time telling me I owe them money for this repair and that repair (when they hadn't been out to my house yet - they had me completely confused with another customer), to them requesting to use my pots and bowls because they didn't have bucket, and hardly looking at anything on my AC and just assuming it needed Freon...which they added right there before talking with me about anything. 1 week and $300 later, my AC is having the same problems again!

The representative I originally talked to at the company told me that they will do whatever they have to do to 'repair' AC's, instead of replacing them so the customer has to pay for everything and AHS doesn't have to pay for anything. I already wrote a complaint letter and attached the 'live chat' I had with the representative, and the reviews I had pulled up, and mailed it last week but I haven't heard from them. But since I woke up this morning with my AC leaking all over the floor and air not cool enough (original issue), I reached back out to AHS and requested to speak to a supervisor. Apparently supervisors are not available for you to speak with, so you have to put in a request and they will contact you in 48 hours.

As customers, we pay too much money and put too much of our trust into AHS. I would NEVER recommend them to anyone after dealing with what I had to deal with, and plan on spreading word of this horrible experience through multiple outlets. Not only has this situation caused me to miss work, but also sleepless nights caused by the stress of this situation. It is not my responsibility to be checking in with a company to make sure I am confirmed on their schedule (but I'm glad I did) and for me to supply them with my household items to use for them to get their job done.

The company they sent to my house was a complete joke, and I did not feel comfortable with them there at all. AHS should be ashamed of the way they have handled my original concerns and that I am even in this situation. Also, they should have more pride in their company than to send such a disorganized company who doesn't even get the job done, and makes customers uncomfortable.

I finally spoke to multiple customer service representatives whom I had to explain the situation to each time, they all seemed very sympathetic to my situation and that I was even having this experience, but they kept telling me that the company would come back out, but I do not want that company in my house. I feel as if I am getting ripped off by them and AHS...not to mention how uncomfortable they made me.

I was then told they would 'review my account' and offer me cash to use another company based off of my diagnosis from the company - this is the biggest joke, this company cannot even give a diagnosis because they didn't look into anything! One technician took about 1 minute looking at the spot where I was. There was a big leak, and they immediately just put in Freon and left. (I now have to replace my baseboards and possibly the flooring of where there was water damage from the leak that happened after they 'fixed' my unit which was not even a week later).

It's been a week and I have not heard from AHS, so I had to reach out to them about getting this resolved since it's about to be 90 degrees this weekend. I am now being told that the cash they offered I may not receive because the company claims they completed my job. I am beyond frustrated at AHS, why do I pay so much money to have a home warranty when they won't even help me? The kicker to all of this is I had a family friend come look at the unit, he laughed and said, “I can't even believe they would try to put Freon in this, it obviously needs to be replaced.” I am so frustrated that I am even in this situation... If only they would have listened to my initial concerns the first time I would not even be in this situation.

But when I purchased this house, they had already picked up a Home Shield contract and so it transferred with the house. I decided to give them another chance and thus far, since I purchased this house in 2011, I have not seen the same behaviors. I’m still okay with their service but I am attentive. I find the hold wait to be long but if that’s their worst crime, I can cope with it. Also, the basic tone of people has been different and it was a pit before. There’s nothing like a class action suit to get their attention. At least based upon what I've read on the internet, that helped to cause some of the problems to back off. That’s what changed it.

I called AHS and every time had to wait more than 20 minutes to speak with customer service rep. They said, "We are waiting for the diagnosis from the tech." I then called the service company and they said they have submitted everything. This continued daily till June 6th. Finally AHS called on 6th and offered $670 which was the cost of compressor, labor charges plus tax. They said we could either get the compressor replaced or get a new refrigerator and $670 will be reimbursed after two to three weeks. We have been without a refrigerator for twelve days now. Our new refrigerator is being delivered on 9th.

You would think that a customer who has been with a company that long would have a great relationship with them... NOT!!!! At first we only needed minor repairs and the service fee was very nominal so it seemed fine. Most recently, as my home is aging, the cost of the warranty as well as the service fee have increase which wouldn't be so bad if I was experiencing the excessive "uncovered cost" that exist with major repairs. Let me explain some of my situations (in no certain order)...

Last year I had a problem with my dishwasher holding water. I only use it when we have gatherings so I did not know it was doing so. I begin to smell a moldy smell in my kitchen and discovered the dishwasher was the problem. I called AHS who sent out a contractor who said they "had" to repair it, even though it was an older model, the door was hard to shut, the knob was hard to turn and had mold in it, cause AHS would not authorize them to replace it. So they came back with parts a couple of days later cleaned and repaired it (leaving the molded cleaning rag on my counter). I ran the dishwasher several times after that with bleach and vinegar to make sure the mold was removed. I also checked it several times after that to make sure the water was no longer standing in it.

Then came the opportunity for me to actually use it which was several weeks later. I opened it up and lo and behold there was water and mold. I called AHS who told me that it was too long after the original repairs so I would have to pay another $75 service fee (to the same company that came before... really). My dishwasher is still not replaced or working properly. A combination of the dishwasher and a now leaky garbage disposal (which AHS previously repaired) I now have a mold problem around my kitchen sink area that is probably making us sick and will cost me a fortune to repair.

Now on to my furnace. Our furnace went out during the winter before last. I called AHS and they sent out a contractor. I was told the furnace needed to be replaced and I would need to pay out of pocket cost of upwards $1200-1600. Okay a senior, on a limited income with disabled people???? I don't have it like that which is why I was paying for a warranty. Oh yeah, contractor eventually became very rude and condescending to me. They initially told me at my home it would be $600-800 but once I complained his final quote was the higher figure. They said AHS supplied the actual furnace and the labor cost surrounding that but they did not pay for essentially the "tie in" to our system/ductwork and or some fabrication that would be needed. (I might be a little off in how I am saying it.) Sooooooo make me understand?

I asked for a second opinion as I wanted to see if I could get a better cost and I really did not want to give that contractor a dime of my money, but was told that once a contractor submits their cost AHS is under contract to them to do the work. Sooooooo the contractor's has a better deal than the customer? I was told my only other option was to take a buyout offer of the cost AHS would spend in my situation. I asked how much that would be and was told they would calculated and get back with me.

Well after a couple of days they called me back and offered me a few hundred dollars (to get a decent furnace for the size of my home with a good rating was going to be way more than that before labor - what were they putting in?). Really... That's all y'all pay the contractors... Is that why they submit these absorbent "uncovered cost." I would also have to have the work done out of pocket then submit a receipt for to get that!!!

I eventually did talk with someone who was nice enough to get me another hundred dollar out of AHS but I had to pay the majority of the cost to get the furnace replaced. Now summer before last, my air conditional went out. I called AHS. They sent out a contractor who said it was shot and needed replacing. They submitted their recommendation to AHS who agreed and then called me to let me know I would have to pay for the freon and I think some line (can't remember those details right now). This was actually before the furnace and again I was not happy with it but paid the around $4-500 cost (again I wasn't prepared to do this today so I might be off on the figure a little). So they installed the air conditioner (manufactured June 2015) that summer (it didn't run a complete season).

Well the next summer rolls around (2016) and the brand new air conditioner stops running. I called AHS who tells me I have to pay another $75 service charge as it was several months (not years) after it had been installed. Okay so this equipment is not a year old and it stops running. The contractor said the compressor had went out and needed replacing as well as the freon which was going to cost me another $4-500 dollars. I just did not have it and it was close to the end of the season so I decided to wait until the spring of this year to get it repaired, hoping I could save the money up over the months. Well I did and called AHS this week to have a contractor come repair the air conditioner. They came out this week and said the compressor did in fact need to be replaced and it needed freon which was going to be a out of pocket cost of $1260 this time to be exact. REALLY!!!! Imagine my shock!

I called AHS several times and, guess what, nothing has changed. I either pay the money or take the couple hundred buyout option. I had a couple other cooling contractors look at it and they both said the exact same thing. AHS should have never let them put that unit it in the first place. It uses R-22 freon. All heating/cooling contractors know that the Government is mandating phasing out those units because the R-22 freon is considered hazardous and cannot be purchased after 2020 which is why it is such a premium now. They also were both of the opinion that the contractor who installed it knew AHS would not scrutinize what they were doing and was simply "getting rid" of what was a useless unit. They both said there were also other things wrong (they both said the same other things) and that the unit was shot and needed to be completely replaced.

They suggested it had to be installed improperly in the first place because it shouldn't have happened to such a new unit. One contractor felt sorry for me and changed out a $150 part free of charge hoping it might be the problem instead of the compressor. Neither charged me a service charge by the way. And both expressed how these warranty companies are ripping people off. So I called AHS back and told them what was said and was told that AHS doesn't promise to provide "government mandated equipment." I said, "So what is SEER 13 appliances then?" To which she answered that AHS concern is that if the product works they are not responsible to make sure that I can buy Freon down the road.

But again if the government is mandating to stop selling something that you are expecting a lifetime of at least the next 5-10 years why would you allow it to be put in your customer's home...and at a premium cost for supplies? Well, today as I was sitting here trying to figure out what I was going to do next, I decided to stop anyone else from going through what I am going through right now. I hope this was helpful.

Here we are three weeks later and the AC went out again. The unit is over 20 years old and is breaking down when we keep the temperature set on a reasonable temperatures during a time of year when there are no heat waves causing the AC to work harder than normal. I am very concerned what will happen when the weather actually does get hot.

The interesting or concerning part of all of this is that the company has tried saying this is only the second time it's gone out so there is no issue. When we mentioned that we actually have every invoice from the past two (and only two) previous owners showing they have been servicing this unit for over a decade they started interrupting us and tries to get us off the phone.

They said they would call back no later than 1pm and we had to follow up at 4pm. We still do not have a resolution on the matter. They are going to have someone come out in 4 days to repair it. We are very disappointed by the fact that we are paying for a service That we are not getting at all. Given we have all documentation they should not make this such a difficult process. Until then we have no AC in our bedrooms and two children one of which isn't even 2 yet in a hot house.

Today I ask them to send another company, and I'm told I would have to pay another deductible if they change the dispatch! Seriously?? I ask to speak with a supervisor and was told the supervisor said s/he could not do anything else... "The only option was to move forward." As soon as this issue is resolved, I will be switching to a new warranty company. This is unacceptable. Up until now, I have been patient and did not fault AHS, but this lack of responsiveness to an inefficient sub-contractor means AHS is complicit in the lack of customer service. I spent 40 minutes on the phone, holding for most of that time, and I am no closer to getting a resolution than before I called.

I recently had an electric hot water heater fail. Plumbing company wanted to charge me $125 for an aluminum drip pan ($20 at Home Depot), and $150 to pull a permit, even though I told them that according to the permits supervisor for my county no permit was needed, they still wanted to charge me!! They should be charged criminally! These are the kinds of folks AHS has on their payroll. And clearly, they don't compensate the contractors well, so the contractors will try to squeeze it out of you! I am currently in a dispute with them over a $75 service fee that was never cancelled on their end. Not my fault. They have incapable call-takers that most of the time have no idea what they're doing. With AHS, the customer is always wrong. So, after 13 years, I am cancelling my contract.

Well, come June, 2017 the downstairs unit does the same exact thing as our upstairs unit did for our first claim 9 months ago. Due to the age (house being built in 2008) we knew the downstairs unit would have to have the same thing done as our upstairs unit. We file a claim and we get assigned a different contractor (Contractor B). Not understanding how the process works I just assume AHS no longer has a contract with Contractor A maybe because they were slow to respond the first time, I'm unsure. Contractor B contacts me quickly and schedules an appt. in the next few days. Contractor B comes to the property and states the Freon is low by around 2-4 lbs. and just needs to be filled up. I state that's what happened with our upstairs unit 9 months ago and the compressor was bad that's what caused the Freon to be low and had to be replaced and refilled.

Contractor B says he cannot find any issues just that it is low and Contractor B is charging me an arm and a leg to just fill the unit. Contractor A told us there was no point in filling up the Freon in our upstairs unit because the compressor is bad and would just leak again and filling it up would only be a temporary fix. Contractor B is only wanting to fill up our unit which would not fix our problem and I would have to file a claim again in the future for failure again. I do not feel Contractor B knows what he is doing and I refused his service because of this. I called AHS and they stated Contractor B has to complete the job since they are assigned to the job. They told me Contractor B was assigned since contractors are assigned based upon availability; however Contractor A didn't have a quick availability and we were assigned to them 9 months ago.

I complained saying that I would have just preferred Contractor A to come back out to the property instead of Contractor B and the representative told me I would have to request that before Contractor B was assigned for the job. I don't understand the process and nowhere in my contract does it explain that when I file a claim my request is placed in a "pool" of contractors and then I am assigned to whoever is free. I feel that I am placed in a situation where I am "stuck" with a contractor who is telling me incorrect information about how to resolve our problem and I fear for any future claims because I will question whether or not I am getting a knowledgeable company or not since I do not know the options of contractors I have for what job.

I called and spoke with Contractor A and an independent contractor to ask questions about my situation and they have both told me the Freon being low would mean there is a leak and a compressor is bad. I just feel I cannot do anything about my situation and I would pay close to $400 in Freon to be filled up in my downstairs unit when that is not truly the correction to my problem. I'm just disappointed that I had such a good experience 9 months ago and now I am in a bad experience with an unknowledgeable contractor for something that was just resolved for the same exact item.

The Allen wrench cost me $3.00 and 5 minutes to do it. I called AHS and tried to reason with them. These "robots" (because they can't be called humans) are trained to said: "We do not cover lost parts". Finally, I was so frustrated that I decided to cancel this junk of warranty and the representative got the nerves to tell me that I was going to be charged an administration fees, plus $75.00 for this visit and one extra month for I needed to cancel 30 days before next payment. Thieves!!! They are getting away with abusing us as consumers.

The fridge was only about four years old. To file it was easy, but to get it sorted out was very difficult. We had the technicians called out about five times, and each time they kept saying it was something else that was wrong with the fridge. I asked Home Shield about replacing, they said no. They categorically refused and said that they had no responsibility. They were happy to keep sending people out and had two different companies come in to do it, but it just was never fixed. It never ran properly and we had to keep throwing food out. It would stay cold for a few days and then it would go again, so I ended up getting rid of the fridge and buying a new one. Home Shield did not help in any way, shape, or form. At the end of the year, I may well think about changing and getting another company.

Then a second technician came out and he was awesome and very knowledgeable. He worked on the washing machine and replaced the refrigerator. Right off, he said the door can't be fixed because it kept freezing. He knew we've had that problem and they had already been out so many times to replace the little part. He even put a tape inside the refrigerator to redirect the air. It was a zoo. I had no water in the refrigerator and the ice maker didn't work for weeks while trying to get them to fix it. They would come out but as soon as they leave, the refrigerator would do it again. Finally, AHS was good enough to give us some money to get a new refrigerator.

Although I wasn't pushing to get a new refrigerator 'cause I liked my old one. It was just that they weren't able to fix it. That's fine and we got a new ref. However, they weren't the same size and my other one had some other kind of front that never show dirt. It was really good. Then, we paid a little more to get the same door because it was an upgrade. They didn't really care what the outside looks like as long as it was a workable refrigerator. I understand that though, and I'm glad I have a workable refrigerator now too.

As for the washing machine, the guy that came out ordered one part, came back and fixed it. It's been working fine since. So far, so good. The problem was that he could have fixed it a lot sooner but it took seven days to get the part in to fix it. I couldn't use the washing machine since it wouldn't pump the water out. I had to take all the clothes out and do what I could. AHS is a big company and it still took so long to get the part. If they could expedite that, it would be awesome. If that had been our air conditioner, I would have been really unhappy. Overall, the experience was all good except for the time delay.

Our most recent claim was for our garage door that wouldn't open and I thought it was the garage door opener. I went online, submitted the claim to American Home Shield and someone called me within 24 hours. Their website was fine and I had no problems. Also, the guy that came out was really great and clearly professional. He was early which I loved because I hate for people to be late. He told me it's my spring and I looked up. Sure enough, it was broken in half. I thought it was supposed to be like that because not a garage door pops up. I get in my car, I back out, I drive in and I get out. I never looked behind me. He came in exactly what was going on, what was wrong with it and fixed it in less than an hour. The spring part wasn't covered by AHS but it was only $50 and because of American Home Shield, I'm grateful.

The door has been perfect since. It does exactly what I need it to do just when I need it to: go up and come down. Getting in and out of my garage is really important for me because I leave my house to go to work at 4:15 in the morning and I'm a charge nurse so I can't be trapped in my house when patients are waiting to dialyze. Also, we're doing great. There's no stopping, having to lift the door and move the cars outside the door. I'd tell even the people that don't have American Home Shield to get it and I would recommend the technician to anybody. AHS did great with choosing him to be a part of their contractors. They're a great company and my experience has been pleasurable.

Thirty minutes later, a guy shows up all the way out from Dallas to do the same thing to me. He said the opening through my sewer line was three feet under the house and that they’re plumbers, not dogs. They don’t go under houses, so I’ll have to do it and extend the pipe to the house before they can do the work. If I got under there and extended it, then I'm a plumber. I could do the work myself and I wouldn't need them. So I refused to pay the second one.

AHS dispatched two people that refused to do any work. So I called and complained to the dispatcher that they sent somebody out here that doesn't go under the house. She said the first guy went under, looked and said it's animal damage. I said, "First of all, he didn't go look. I told him face to face that I thought it might be. He never went under the house at all. So if he said he did, he's a liar." I'm upset that I paid this guy and he didn't do anything. The lady started saying something about animal damage and that was in the contract. In my contract, it didn't say anything about animal damage, that it's not covered if it was. Regardless of that, he didn't even look in the first place. For me, if the kind of service people they employ will lie, then I don't want them at my house because that lying will become stealing.

When I was talking to the dispatcher, I asked what they're going to do about this and she said that there's nothing they can do. She was very, very rude in her tone and manner. I'm a paying customer. I don't feel like I deserve to be disrespected by her and then not get service done and have to pay the show up fee. I didn't want to sit and argue and I did not want to deal with it anymore. So I asked them to cancel my service.

I'm not gonna keep paying $75 a pop for them to dispatch somebody that won't do the work. I signed up for someone to show up, do work, and then I pay him the $75 show up fee. I've had the service for years and had other claims a long time ago. I pay a monthly charge, and then a service fee when they show up, and if I can't get work done and I'm paying all this money, then the service is not worth it to me. It's disappointing. Not only will I not recommend them to my friends, but I have been warning them against American Home Shield.

I also had a refrigerator repair done. The tech came out and he looked at the fridge, and did this and that. They said they didn't have the part and they waited instruction. I had to wait for two weeks for a repair man to come out and it was too long. He got the part and he put it on, it was about 8:00 at night. He said, "Well, I don't know if the refrigerator is gonna get cold yet or not. I'll have to wait an hour or so." He left and the refrigerator never got cold. Also, the tech didn't charge me the right amount. He said, "Well, my thing is paying $119 for that." Then, they called me back and said, "Hey, you were $5 short or something on your payment." I discussed that with the guy when he was there, that I'm supposed to pay this. That wasn't cool because I didn't have a refrigerator for two weeks. Another guy came out and he spent a whole bunch of time in there. He got it working the second time.

I also had to get some work done on my septic system. I specifically said that I wanted that covered. But they said, "Oh, we don't cover anything outside the home." I said, "Well why am I paying that septic system in if you don't want to cover it? It's outside the home. So why is that on the contract?" I paid for a service that they didn't provide me because I thought that the septic tank was supposed to be covered.

American Home Shield has nothing to do with that. It was the people that that they were sending out. The second guy that did my refrigerator repair was outstanding. The first guy was not so much. The problem with that was he got here so late in the evening he just wanted to go home. I don't want him there either because it's night time. You visit people's house during the daytime to do stuff like that. You don't come at 8:00. I took off work that whole day and he didn't get through that night.

I'm a retired military, and I've been a supervisor. I've managed government and very large medical clinic. I have a bachelor's degree in engineering so I'm not just some guy. I didn't know the root and that's what we deal with, root causes. But as far as American Home Shield, I plan on renewing because some of these repairs are minor.

I'm going to take this further up the ladder to get some results. I'm a Realtor and I'll definitely inform everyone of my clients, friends and family members NOT to get a Home warranty from American Home Shield. If there was a negative number/star rating that is what I would give them. Totally useless, confrontational, unwilling to help their own customers. What a joke...

We contacted AHS and they immediately texted the name of a service company that would call me within 24 hours to make an appointment. Advanced Air Services came on Friday, spent 1/2 hour inspected the boiler and decided it needed a new electrical panel. When I heard this I contacted him and left an urgent message that the issue is not the electric panel and I sent him a photo of the hole in the heat exchanger. He called me Monday morning and advised that he was putting in for a transfer of service as a certified Weil-Mclain company should be looking at the boiler. I called AHS and spent 1/2 hour on the phone asking if they could just hire the person who already did the diagnostics... but they said they do not operate that way and that a service company called Rubber Duck would call me within 24 hours to make an appointment.

Meantime my father has no heat or hot water since Wednesday!! I looked up Rubbed Duck on a consumer rating site and was floored by the negative reviews on the company and can't believe that AHS would continue to use this service person with those kind of reviews online. Perhaps they are not aware or perhaps they just don't care. Rubber Duck has yet to call me to schedule... it's well over 24 hours. I am now working with the original HVAC person I called as I know I will get the job done properly and quickly. We are looking into cancelling our contract if they do not cover the costs we will incur.

I was transferred to 5 people and departments, placed on hold for 19 minutes by one person who never picked up and eventually I did cancel the policy but was charged a months fees to cancel. What a scam. I am so disappointed and hope anyone out there reconsiders purchasing a home warranty thru American Home Shield. If I was making a purchase they would jump through hoops ensuring satisfaction but offered little opportunity for satisfaction with canceling the policy. Rest assured I will not be purchasing another warranty thru them when the HVAC manufacturer warranty expires.

Finally, we had a competent plumber come out and finish the job. It was Artesian Plumbing and they were very nice. And they're not even contracted with AHS, but they agreed to come out. They also gave us their cards and said, “If you have any problems, call your contract people and we’ll come out on their behalf.” The other two companies did not do what they were supposed to do and I called American Home Shield and gave both of them bad reviews.

We also had another instance with All Pro Plumbing where it took a month to get our kitchen faucet fixed. We had water leaking underneath the sink for at least three weeks. It was almost four weeks before we got it fixed. The seal in one of the lines underneath there had gotten loose so at first, they came out and tried to replace the seal. And then they came back out with a part and said it wasn't going to work. They needed to order the whole thing and that's when they came back with over $600 total charge for everything. The service call fee was $75 and AHS was going to pay them $250 and then they wanted us to pay them an additional $285 when they come out, which was ridiculous. So we decided to opt out of that and get the $250 check from AHS. We bought the faucet part for $80 and then had a certified plumber come out for $130 and install it.

If we're paying to have a warranty, we shouldn't have to have four people come out in order to get something fixed, be charged over $600 to replace a faucet part and wait for a month to get it fixed, or have to deal with the intermittent tankless water heater for two months when it should’ve been fixed right the first time we called to have somebody out. Every time somebody comes out for the second or third time, they’re charging a service call fee to AHS, and they're not taking care of the problem. Whereas if AHS found somebody competent that would come out and do one visit and maybe do a follow-up, too, when it’s completed, that wouldn't be a big issue. But to have incompetent people coming out means they're just paying for incompetence.

The gentleman on the phone was very nice and professional but he had no power or authority to actually help me. (He was placed on hold by his own Customer Care or escalation team for 15 or 20 minutes) The only resolution he could offer was for me to prove that I had paid for the contract, regardless of the fact that AHS already had a record of the contract. I asked to speak to a manager but there was no one available. He did put a request for a manager to contact me within two business days, which put that after a long holiday weekend and no service to my pool. The next Wednesday manager did call but I could not get to the phone. I have called every business day since then and I have not been able to reach anyone.

I clearly informed the representative when I filed my claim that my wife had just gotten at the hospital and I needed my air conditioner repaired immediately. That did not matter to American Home Shield. They don’t deal with local repair companies that could do the repair in a shorter period of time. The repair guy that came told me that he came all the way from Statesboro. I live in Savannah Georgia and I know there are numerous AC repair companies available in my local area.

I have spoken to numerous other customers of American Home Shield and they all have the same complaint. American Home Shield only cares about bottom line profits and does not care about the customer. It is sad that you pay for service and every time that you need to use it is a very upsetting experience. I have friends that have used American Home Shield and they all have the same complaint. And they have dropped American Home Shield Home Warranty service or they are in the process of doing so.

Last week, I submitted a claim. A latch on my built-in microwave broke then one of their technicians came out. He was a great guy. The latch was deemed unrepairable so American Home Shield offered us three options. The first one was to replace with a similar one, another was to purchase an upgrade and then we would pay them the difference, or we would buy our own and then send them the receipt and then we would be reimbursed up to $498. We needed it in stainless steel and they said that wasn't an issue and made us an offer. They came back the next day saying that it was not available. I sent them an email today saying I'll just go buy and install it and I'll just send them the receipt later on so they can reimburse me for the microwave. The only bad thing is that the microwave gets in Thursday and I do a lot of cooking with the microwave. But other than that, we're good to go.

The other experiences that I had have been regarding my pool pump and things of that nature and they've been very helpful and very pro-active with the contractors. There was one contractor though that came a couple of years ago that I complained about and I never saw them again. And another issue that I have with their techs is, because it's down here in Texas, they just can't get to it fast enough to fix it. So we've gone about four days without seeing a tech but that's the nature of everybody having a pool down here so it's not their fault. I don't mind paying the money every month for the peace of mind if they're going to come and take care of it. But, I rarely had to have them come back out to fix what they've already fixed. It's kept the kids in the pool as opposed to being running out on the street so that's always good.

I got an email with about 50 dishwashers on it to choose from. And of course, I couldn't see them. I didn't know how to buy a dishwasher without looking at one. I wrote down a bunch of model numbers and went to Home Depot to look at the particular units and that was how we ended up picking the one that we picked. They didn’t actually have it there on the floor, but the salesman was really nice and he got it up online for us and we didn’t need anything special in our specifications, so that worked out fine. But it was certainly within a reasonable time period. We had also filed other claims in the past and they've all been positive. AHS is professional and friendly.

The first company took advantage because people didn’t know about it. They also told American Home Shield that they changed the underground pump which wasn't true and they charged American Home Shield for it. I had people coming over and taking pictures. The underground pump was about 300 feet underground. They cannot do that with bare hands. They need a machine and they never even brought anything. They also indicated that they changed things that they never did. They wrote that they put it like a brand-new cap but when we took the cap out, everything was old inside.

It was terrible. The second company was more upset than I was. They couldn't believe what the first company did. And it looked like American Home Shield never took the second company very seriously. Even though they came and told American Home Shield how bad the job was and the first company didn’t change the underground pump, American Home Shield continued not wanting to pay for another pump. It very easy to prove that the underground pump was was not changed because one would need a big hole to go inside. And the ground was not even touched. So I didn’t understand American Home Shield took a month and a half almost to fix the problem. They dragged the problem so I didn’t have water for a month and a half. With the kids in school, it was a nightmare.

When I called American Home Shield, I had a girl who was always trying to take care of the problem and did an amazing job. But the supervisors were cutting her off and constantly saying that they're not going to pay. And she continued to say that it's not fair because the company that they paid didn’t do the job. She defended me in so many ways.

Finally, I got someone to fix the pump but American Home Shield didn’t pay for everything. My warranty was not to pay for everything though. It was just to pay the pump so I needed to pay the rest of the things. I paid $2000 and it took a month or so for me to get the $1,300 check. But at least it was a help. And the gentleman was so nice to me and changed my pressure tank for free. He felt so bad about what I was going on. He told me what he put in was not brand-new but it’s very good and will give me pressure. He was amazing and took care of us. And he even wanted to wait to get the money. I divided the billing three times because I didn’t have the money as I already gave it to the other company. And I'm wondering why American Home Shield doesn’t have this gentleman in their list.

Now I’m concerned of even calling American Home Shield to ask for anything here at home. I’m concerned for when something big comes along, we’ll have the same experience. So my husband told me that every time American Home Shield would give the name of the company, we'll investigate the company before we allow them to come to our home.

I have American Home Shield for many years now since I bought the house. I never had an issue with them until this company came to my home. And what I didn’t understand was why were they still using that company. If one would put the name of the company online, they would see so many people saying so many bad things. They wouldn't see anybody happy. American Home Shield should investigate the company they send to their own customers because they are the ones who are looking bad. I also had another experience when the plumber they sent came a little drunk. American Home Shield is a great company but they don’t have a lot of communication between them and that’s what worries me.

The first company that came out and brought the microwave was also told to install it. There was two gentlemen, one was very kind and funny, the other one was very rude. When they were installing it, it was being done incorrectly. I had to ask the gentlemen a few questions and he assured me it was being done correctly. Then when they left I realize that the exhaust system on the microwave was blowing into my attic, not attached to the vent.

So I called American Home Shield back and I ask for them to kindly send somebody else out because I have tried already to recover with the first people that were at the house who apparently didn't believe a word I was saying and I didn't want them back. American Home Shield sent Ace Appliance out and instead of taking another half day off of work because everybody comes during the day, I had my son who is a young adult meet them at the house, all he did was stood there the entire time and go, "I don't know why I'm here, I thought I was looking at a broken microwave. This looks new and there's nothing wrong with it."

I called and talked to a representative from American Home Shield. I was on a recorded line twice, had to slowly explain my issue and I left this gentleman a handwritten note on top of the stove right by the microwave explaining why he was going to do this today in case he did not get the proper information from the company because that happens all the time. He was rude and didn't even go up into the attic to see the way it was vented. He adjusted a screw and it's installed crooked and left.

I called Ace Appliance back directly, ask them to send another representative out, I never got a phone call back. Then my husband called American Home Shield to take care of it through them. Nobody has called us back from Ace Appliance and I still have a crooked microwave in that space and it's still blowing into my attic.

They let me know what was going on and gave me some helpful hints going into the future, like how to prevent things from happening, because it looks like my daughter put something down in the garbage disposal that she shouldn't have, which jammed it off. And then they gave me a bar to put in there so that nothing foreign that shouldn't be in there could get in. They also gave me some cleaning tips like to put ice in there, things that I never knew to maintain the disposal. It's been performing perfectly and quieter when I run it. Now, I can use my sink and not worry about nastiness coming back up.

My warranty with American Home Shield is probably one of the best purchases that I've made. When I bought the house, it came with a year free and I kept it. I like the monthly payments on it and I use it. It takes away all the hassle of trying to find a reliable service person to come in and fix things. At the time, I was a single mom and I've been using a screwdriver, so my skill set for fixing things wasn't so good, and American Home helped a lot. I used it a few times for my dryer and washer, and they actually replaced the hot water tank once, where I paid the fee of $75 and got a brand new hot water tank. It's definitely money well spent.

I do my claims online not because I don’t like talking to Home Shield but it seems more convenient just to plug it in if I have a problem and then it seems to be handled quickly where someone will give me a call and it will start the claim rolling. I called at one time to find out information about my policy on what would be covered in a claim and one girl acted like she could not answer that question. She kept me on this very long hold. And then somebody picked up finally and answered the question immediately and knew exactly what I wanted and she couldn’t believe that someone did that to me.

I don’t look at that as a bad light on Home Shield. Sometimes some people have bad days and some might not be trained to the best and don’t know everything that everyone else might know, or they might not be as seasoned because they haven't been there as long. And they document very well. It seems like that kind of stuff is in the system and everything gets kind of written in. Overall, American Home Shield’s been a savior to me, and I'd recommend them to everyone. My niece just bought a house and I told her she gotta get American Home Shield. It's a great thing to have. It's an insurance for what your investment is.

I called back to AHS and they assigned another contractor, All Right Mechanical (ARM) who contacted me the following day on the 23rd. They scheduled an appointment and the company owner and a jr. tech came to the house on time. They put a gauge on the line and said I was low on refrigerant and I probably have a leak in the Evap Coil. The owner then tells me that my warranty company won't pay for all the work that needs done because it is not covered and that my out-of-pocket expenses are likely to be more than $3000. Or, he can sell me a system for $10K and spread my payments over 20 years to have a brand new system rather than repairing my 27 year old current system. I believed that he was trying to scam myself as well as the warranty company, so I called AHS and told them as much. They said they couldn't do anything because they didn't have their report yet.

The following day AHS received the report from ARM and the next day, they authorized them to do a leak test. When AHS told me this, I again complained about ARM and stated that they were ripping both of us off. AHS advised me that if I wanted to select my own vendor, I could request cash in lieu of service for the leak test. They would send it to authorizations and let me know how much cash would be available to me, but unfortunately the Authorizations dept. was running behind and it would be 2-3 days.

On the third day when I still hadn't heard from them, I called only to be told that the rep had misinformed me, and that they couldn't offer me cash in lieu for a leak test. It can only be offered for a diagnosed covered equipment failure, and that I had no option other than use ARM for that Leak Test. After 3 more days passed, a tech finally came to the house. He looked at the condenser and the evap coil and stated both were leaking and needed to be replaced. He didn't inject dye or nitrogen into the system, but said he would write it up in 15 minutes and send it in.

The next day, when I hadn't heard anything by the end of the day, I contacted AHS who said they still didn't have the report. I then contact ARM who said they would submit report that day. The next day I again contacted AHS, and they had the report, but it was in authorizations and they were behind. 2 days later, they contacted me and the woman said "I have never seen a report with this many non-covered items." The total out of pocket was $4030! So I asked what my cash in lieu amount would be and they said it would have to go back to authorizations to determine that.

3 days later, today June 5th, authorizations offers me $1,288.23 for a new condenser and evap coil and the labor to install both components! This is less than the cost to purchase the items, much less have them installed. So I again complained that this company was ripping us off and asked for a second opinion. She had the nerve to tell me that I was past the 7 day window to request that (all their fault), and my only options were to take their offer, or have their contractor do the repair. Incidentally, an independent third company giving me a "friend of a friend" pricing, diagnosed that an entire new system was needed and priced it at $6,800... A far cry from $1,288.23 I was offered.

I have been an AHS customer for 15 years or so. I have had small issues (washer, dishwasher, microwave, etc.) that were all handled with no issues during that time, however this was not and if you as a company, can not bring the system back to full operation without the customer having to spend over 3 times what you're willing to pay, then maybe you shouldn't say you are even covering the item! It may be "legal" by the terms of the contract, but it most assuredly is NOT ETHICAL! This is horrible business and as soon as I reach final resolution on this issue, you will have one less customer!